Box joint member



Jan. 25, 1955 T. MUNROE BOX JOINT MEMBER Filed Sept. 19, 1951 .iii m R O T N E V N THOMAS MUNROE BY ATTORNEYS United States Patent 7 2,700,457 BOX JOINT MEMBER Thomas Munroe, Dayton, Ohio, assignor to Moraine Box Company, Dayton, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Application September 19, 1951, Serial No. 247,263

2 Claims. (Cl. 206-46) This invention relates to shipping crates, and particularly to a reinforcing member for supporting one of the frame members relative to another.

It is common practice, particularly .in shipping electric refrigerators, to provide a wood base structure on which the refrigerator is supported and then place a relatively light-weight shipping container over the refrigerator and fasten it to the wood base. In using a shipping container of this character, it is essential that the upper portion of the shipping container be rigidly supported relative to the refrigerator to prevent contact of the shipping container with the refrigerator during shipment, and thereby avoid damage to the finish of the refrigerator.

To provide for holding of the shipping container relative to the refrigerator, it is common practice to use a wood frame member secured to the back wall of the refrigerator by two or more bolts, this wood bar or frame member being nailed to the vertical uprights of the shipping container to hold it in place and thereby hold the shipping container in place relative to the refrigerator.

However, to obtain rigidity of the shipping container relative to the refrigerator, it has been common practice to notch out the vertical uprights of the shipping container to receive the wood bar or back bar so that a flat panel could be placed across the side wall of the shipping container over the back bar to completely enclose the refrigerator during shipment.

However, when the vertical frame members of the shipping container are notched out to receive the back bar, the uprights are weakened at the point receiving the notch.- With the uprights being so weakened, when the full weight of the refrigerator is thrown onto the uprights, as "occurs during shipping, the uprights split at the notched section thereby allowing the refrigerator to move forward into the crate with the result that the front of the refrigerator strikes the front of the crate and is damaged.

To provide for sufficient strength at the notchedout portion, relatively wide vertical upright members are required, thus placing a large amount of waste lumber h into the vertical uprights that would not ordinarily be required if it were not for the notched-out portion, the maximum strength of the vertical upright being at its weakest point of the notched-out portion.

It is, therefore, an object of this invention to provide a reinforcing member that will support a back bar or cross bar of the refrigerator crate relative to the vertical upright members to which it is attached without requiring any notching of the vertical uprights.

Another object of the invention is to provide a reinforcing member in accordance with the foregoing object wherein fastening devices can be passed through the reinforcing member between the frame members for securely locking the frame members together with the reinforcing member.

Another object of the invention is to provide a reinforcing member that will accomplish the results normally accomplished by the notch placed in the vertical uprights of the crate without in any way weakening the vertical frame members.

Further objects and advantages will become apparent from the drawings and the following description.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a perspective elevational view of a crate incorporating the feature of this invention.

Patented Jan. 25, 1955 Figure 2 is a perspective elevational view of a reinforcmg member constructed in accordance with the invention and illustrating in broken lines the relationship of the reinforcing member to the frame members of the crate.

Figure 3 is an exploded perspective view of the reinforcing member and the associated frame members of the crate.

Figure 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 4-4 of Figure 1.

Figure 5 is a perspective elevational view of a simplified form of the reinforcing member, and showing in broken lines the relationship of the member with the frame members of the crate.

Figure 6 is a horizontal cross-sectional view showing the structural relationship between the reinforcing member and the frame members of the crate of the device illustrated in Figure 5.

Figure 7 is a perspective elevational view of a portion of a crate illustrating the manner of installing a cross bar or back bar according to prior art methods.

Figure 8 is a perspective view of a reinforcing member similar to Figure 2 but illustrating a modified structure of the device.

As illustrated in Figure 1, a crate to which the device of this invention is applied consists of a bottom frame structure 10 to which is applied the side wall frames 11 and 12, a front wall frame 13 and a top frame 14. A back closure frame is normally provided, but is shown removed to more clearly illustrate the position of the cross bar or back bar 15 and its attachment to the vertical uprights 16 and 17 on the crate.

In normal use a refrigerator cabinet, for example, is supported on the bottom frame 10 and the back bar or crossbar 15 is attached to the rear wall of the refrigerator cabinet by means of one or more bolts.

According to the methods of the prior art, as illustrated in Figure 7, the cross bar or back bar 15a is carried between the vertical uprights 16a. and 17a. The uprights 16a and 17a are notched to receive the back bar 15a, thus weakening the vertical uprights at the point of the notching. The notch is provided to locate the back oar 15a in the frame members 16a and 17a to hold the refrigerator rigid relative to the crate and avoid movement therebetween which would cause damage to the refrigerator if the crate should strike the refrigerator. Fastening of the back bar to the vertical frame members keeps the refrigerator from moving forward and backward in the crate, as well as sidewards. Also, the vertical anovement of the refrigerator is prevented by the notc The reinforcing member of this invention eliminates any necessity of notching the vertical uprights, for as illustrated in Figures 1 to 4, the cross bar or back bar 15 is carried in a box-like portion 18 of the reinforcing member and channel section 19 extending from the box section 18 receives the vertical upright 16.

The reinforcing member 20 consists of the box-like section 18, illustrated in Figure 2, and has the side wall 21, edge walls 22 and 23 andan end Wall 24. Thus, one side and one end of the box section 18 is open to receive the end of the back bar or cross bar 15. The channel section 19 0f the reinforcing member 20 consists of the end wall 24 of the box section 18, and the flange section 25 that has the bent portion 26 thereon that is bent toward the end wall 24 of the box section so as to provide a substantially U-shaped channel section attached to one end of the box section 18 with the end wall 24 of the box section forming a common wall between the channel section 19 and the box section 18, the common wall 24 being positioned between adjacent faces of the frame sections 15 and 16 when in assembled relationship.

As illustrated in Figure 1, a reinforcing member 20 is provided at each end of the cross bar 15 to secure the same to the uprights 16 and 17 respectively.

The closed end wall 24 of the box section 18 has a cut-out or open portion 28 that is reversely bent to provide a tab or foot 29 projecting from the wall 21 of the box section 18 and adapted to lay against the upright 16 to strengthen the wall 21. The opening 28 provided by removal of the tab 29 receives the fastening nails 30- portion 25 to receive nails to be driven into the vertical upright '16 if desired. The cross nailing of the reinforcing member 211 to the upright 16 provides a secure lock of the reinforcing member 20 to the upright 16.

Pointed tabs 33 can be formed inwardly of the box section 18 from the side wall 21 thereof to provide temporary fastening means to hold the reinforcing member 21) on the end of the cross bar when assembling the cross bar onto the vertical uprights 16 and 17.

It will be seen from the drawings that the reinforcing member eliminates any necessity of notching the vertical upright 16 and provides for placement of the cross bar at any height on the vertical uprights 16 and 17 to take care of any manufacturing variations in the crate and placement of the back bar 15 on the refrigerator cabinet. The reinforcing member 20 thus provides the same functions as the notch that was previously cut in the vertical frame members 16 and 17, the back bar 15 being held against vertical movement relative to the crate by the flanges 22 and 23, and being held against forward movement into the crate by the wall 21.

In Figures 5 and 6 there is illustrated a somewhat simplified form of the structure illustrated in Figures 1 to 4 wherein the reinforcing member consists of a base portion 41 that is positioned between the upright frame member 42 and the cross bar or back bar 43.

One end of the base portion 41 has a flanged portion 44 that is engaged by the cross bar 43. The opposite end of the base portion 41 has an angled flanged portion 45 forming a U-shaped section with the base portion 41 for placement around three sides of the upright 42. The base portion 41 and the flanged portion 44 constitute an angle portion extending around two sides of the end of the cross bar 43. As shown in Figure 6, the cross bar 43 is secured to the upright 42 by means of fastening nails 46 that pass through the upright 42 and through openings 47 provided in the common Wall 41 of the reinforcing member 40.

Since the major strain is that of forward movement of the refrigerator toward the forward wall of the crate, the simplified form of the device effectively prevents damage to the refrigerator since the flange 44 prevents the back bar moving forward into the crate. Thus the refrigerator cabinet cannot strike the forward Wall of the crate with resultant damage to the cabinet.

In Figure 8, there is illustrated a slightly modified form of the device illustrated in Figure 2 wherein flanges 50 and 51 extend from the edge walls 22 and 23, respectively, so that the end of the back bar 15 is closed by the reinforcing member. The flanges 50 and 51 prevent the back bar from movement outwardly of the crate, or rearwardly, thus effectively holding the refrigerator cabinet rigidly in the crate. In this form of the invention the tabs 33 of the device of Figure 2 are eliminated as they become unnecessary to hold the reinforcing member on the end of the back bar while adjusting the back bar to the vertical frame members 16 and 17 of the crate.

While the devices disclosed and described herein illustrate the preferred forms of the invention, yet it will be understood that various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the invention and that those modifications that fall within the scope of the appended claims are intended to be included herein.

I claim:

1. A package comprising an upright refrigerator or the like, a container therefor, said container having an elongated rectangular shaped frame, upright members arranged at four corners thereof, top and bottom end frame members secured to the opposite ends of said uprights forming a rigid frame structure, a base consisting of a frame structure supporting the refrigerator or the like in upright position, a cross bar disposed between the rearmost uprights in the upper portion of said frame for adjustment to the rear wall of the refrigerator or the like positioned in said container, said cross bar being fixedly attached to said refrigerator or the like holding the same in rigid position in the container and preventing it from shifting about and striking the walls of the container, said cross bar having a U-shaped attaching member arranged at opposite ends thereof for securing said cross bar to said rearmost uprights, said U-shaped attaching member having one leg thereof abutting against the end of said cross bar, a flange extending from the free end of said last mentioned, leg and lying against the inner surface of said cross bar, said U-shaped member receiving the upright, the legs of the U-shaped member having aligned apertures, and securing means passing through said apertures and upright and securing said upright, U-shaped member and cross bar in fixed relationship.

2. A package including means fixedly securing the article to be shipped in upright condition comprising top, bottom and interconnecting spaced upright members and securing means, said securing means consisting of a cross bar to which the article to be shipped is secured, U-shaped attaching means having leg portions disposed on the outer ends of said cross bar and engaging around the front and side portions of said upright members, said attaching means having one of the leg portions of the U abutting against the end of said cross bar, said lastmentioned leg portion having an integral inwardly turned flange engaging along the rear side surface of said cross bar, and aligned aperture means in said leg portions receiving a fastening means securing said attaching means to the upright member and to said cross bar.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 949,394 Daly Feb. 15, 1910 1,287,111 Roth Dec. 10, 1918 1,432,359 Rosenthal Oct. 17, 1922 2,202,545 Webb May 28, 1940 2,253,428 Henderson Aug. 19, 1941 2,481,855 McKenzie Sept. 13, 1949 FOREIGN PATENTS 12,619 Australia of 1933 

